No wind in Hamilton, Bermuda

Sails were set, the IOD's sloops were rigged and ready, but there was no dance on Thursday. The forecasted light winds didn't show and on the first day of racing in the Investors Guaranty presentation of the King Edward VII Gold Cup had to be cancelled.

This delay has given Sally Barkow and Betsy Alison, the two finalists from the Virtual Spectator ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship the chance to break in two new crewmembers - both men. Mark Strube, the mainsheet trimmer from Elizebeth Kratzig's team knocked out during the qualifying stages of the Gold Cup, has jumped onboard with Alison to replace Nancy Haberland who has had to fly home. Jonathan Farrar, whose Father is a former IOD class world champion, has joined Sally Barkow's lightweight crew to bring this team up to the weight limit set for the event, as well as provide extra muscle power for when the winds return.

Gold Cup racing should resume Friday and continue through to Sunday afternoon. However, the forecast is not encouraging. Light variable winds are predicted for Friday morning and little more than 8-12 knots on Saturday. Sunday looks more promising with winds up to 20 knots kicking in for the finals.

We might add that BMW Oracle's Chris Dickson was practicing under similar, if not identical, conditions last week in Port America's Cup, as the photo below clearly shows.


Chris Dickson, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Paul Westlake and Zach Hurst practicing inside Port America's Cup last week. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing